Anaheim is really two cities as far as raccoons are concerned, and the job looks completely different depending on which one you live in. In the Colony and the older flat neighbourhoods you have hundred-year-old houses on raised foundations, and the raccoon is underneath you. Up in Anaheim Hills you have canyon lots on the wildland edge with tile roofs, and the raccoon is above you.
Anaheim specifically
The Anaheim Colony Historic District is unlike anything in the newer cities we work. Craftsman and Victorian homes from the 1900s through the 1930s, sitting well above grade on raised foundations, with crawlspaces that have had a century to develop gaps. Original foundation vents in those houses were often wood-framed with light screen, and a raccoon is strong enough to pull one out with its hands. Once inside, the crawlspace is directly under your floor, which is why odor becomes a problem so quickly in that part of town.
Anaheim Hills is the opposite problem. Newer construction on slab, so nothing gets underneath, but the lots back onto Deer Canyon, Oak Canyon, Weir Canyon and the ridgelines above them. Those canyons hold a substantial resident raccoon population with year-round water, and the houses have tile roofs, gable vents and patio covers within easy reach of a slope or a fence. Between them, the flat central and west neighbourhoods sit on the Santa Ana River corridor, which is the main travel route across the whole city.
Where they actually are
The answer depends on your foundation. On a Colony-era or older flat-Anaheim house, we start under the building: foundation vents, the crawlspace hatch, the gap where a porch or addition meets the original structure, and anywhere a century of settling has opened a space at grade.
On a Hills property or newer construction, we start on the roof. Gable and roof vents first, since a raccoon can pull a plastic vent apart in seconds, then the eave line where barrel tile leaves a gap, then the junction where a patio cover or California room was tied into the original roof. Uncapped chimneys are a genuine issue in the Hills, where a lot of homes have them and very few have a proper cap. Detached garages and pool equipment enclosures come up on both sides of the city.
The signs people miss
- Heavy, deliberate footfalls at night, distinctly slower and louder than rodents. People describe it as someone walking around up there or under there, and that description is usually accurate.
- Chittering, chirping or crying sounds in spring. That is a litter, and it changes the job entirely, because removing the female without the young creates a far worse problem.
- Damage that looks done by hands rather than teeth. A vent pulled outward, tile lifted along the eave, a screen bent back at the corner. Rodents leave a neat round hole; raccoons leave a mess.
- A latrine: a concentrated pile of droppings used repeatedly in one spot, often on a flat roof section, a patio cover, in a crawlspace corner or at the base of a tree. Do not disturb one and do not sweep it dry.
How we handle it
The free inspection covers whichever half of the structure matters for your house, and on older Anaheim properties that usually means getting under it. We establish whether the space is currently occupied, whether there is a litter, and every point on the structure an animal is using or could use.
Getting that sequence wrong in spring is how people end up with young sealed in a crawlspace or a ceiling void. The work is cage trapping followed by exclusion, and the exclusion happens only after the structure is confirmed clear. On a Colony-era foundation that means replacing failed vent screens with heavy galvanized mesh rather than the original light screen, and properly closing the gaps that a hundred years of settling has opened. On a Hills roof it means steel vent covers, sealing the tile line, closing the patio-cover junction and capping the chimney.
On latrines and roundworm
This is the part of a raccoon job people underestimate, and it deserves plain language. Raccoons establish latrines, and raccoon droppings can carry Baylisascaris procyonis, a roundworm whose eggs are hazardous to humans and pets and stay viable in the environment for a long time.
Practically: do not sweep or vacuum a dry latrine, because that puts material into the air. Keep children and pets away from any area where you have found one. Contaminated insulation is not worth salvaging. We remove, bag and haul affected material and clean the area rather than leaving it in place, and we will tell you honestly whether what we find warrants a full cleanout or a spot clean. In a Colony crawlspace this often means removing contaminated soil as well, since there is no vapour barrier under most of those houses.
Our raccoon removal work in Anaheim
Photos are from our own crews on real jobs across Orange County and Los Angeles — never stock. We run these same steps on every Anaheim call.
How we handle the animal
Cage trapping and exclusion, not chemicals. We do not apply pesticides, rodenticides or bait on any job, and we do not use body-gripping traps in residential settings.
Every trap we set is checked at least once every 24 hours. Where 14 CCR § 465.5(g)(2) applies it requires trapped animals to be handled in accordance with state regulation rather than moved somewhere else, and we will explain exactly what that means for your property before anything goes in. If a company tells you they will release your raccoon up in the canyon, they are either not being straight with you or not operating within the regulations.
From roughly February through May, assume any raccoon in an attic or crawlspace is a female with a litter until proven otherwise. Sequencing that correctly is the whole difference between a clean resolution and opening a floor or a ceiling in July.
Raccoon pressure across Anaheim, canyon to Colony
Anaheim Hills carries the highest volume, and it is a straightforward wildland interface pattern. Streets backing Deer Canyon, Oak Canyon, Weir Canyon and the Santa Ana Mountains foothills sit against a resident population with permanent water and cover. Those are the properties where exclusion matters more than trapping, because clearing the animal on your roof does nothing about the canyon behind you.
The Colony and the older neighbourhoods around downtown are the second cluster, and there the driver is the housing rather than the terrain. Century-old raised foundations with original venting are simply easy to get into. The Santa Ana River corridor connects the two, running diagonally through the city and giving animals a route between the canyon and the flats. The Resort District and the Platinum Triangle generate a different sort of call, tied to dumpsters, loading areas and landscaped perimeters rather than structural dens, and those are usually commercial jobs rather than residential ones.
Questions we actually get asked
We are in the Colony and something is under the house. Can you even get under there on a place this old?
Usually yes, and it is work we do regularly in that district. Colony-era houses generally have decent crawlspace clearance, which is one of the few advantages of hundred-year-old construction. The complication is that the original foundation venting is often wood-framed with light screen that has rotted, so there is frequently more than one way in, and there is rarely a vapour barrier, which means contaminated soil has to come out along with anything else. We will tell you after the inspection what is realistic to reach and what is not.
We back onto the canyon in Anaheim Hills. Is there any point, or will they just come back?
Both things are true and the distinction matters. We cannot remove the population living in the canyon behind you, and nobody can. What is entirely fixable is your house being a place they can get into. Once the roof vents are steel, the tile line is closed, the patio-cover junction is sealed and the chimney is capped, raccoons can cross your property all night and have nowhere to go. On canyon-edge lots the exclusion is the job and the trapping is incidental.
It is spring and we think there are babies in the attic. Can you just take the mother?
No, and this is the single most important thing to get right on a spring job. Removing the female and leaving the litter means the young die where they are, which turns a routine removal into an odor and contamination problem requiring you to open the structure. The correct approach is confirming whether there is a litter and where, then sequencing the work so they leave together. It takes a little longer and it is vastly better than the alternative.
The rest of what we do in Anaheim
An opening large enough for a raccoon has almost always been found by something smaller first. When we are on a structure we check all of it, and these are the Anaheim services most often paired with this work.
Licensed for the work we advertise, and clear about the rest
Wildlife control, structural pest control and construction are three separate licenses in California. Plenty of companies blur that line. We would rather tell you exactly where ours sits.
- Wildlife trapping and exclusion — this is us. Tri County Trappers operates under California Department of Fish and Wildlife Trapping License TP-10188, and every technician on our crew carries their own CDFW trapping license. Not a company license with unlicensed helpers under it. Each one, individually licensed by the State.
- Attic cleanout and decontamination — this is us. Removal, bagging, vacuuming and cleaning of contaminated material. We do not apply pesticides, rodenticides or bait on any job.
- Insulation, wood repair and structural work — not us. Tri County Trappers does not hold a Contractors State License Board license. That work is performed by a licensed contractor. We inspect it, document it and hand over the photographs so nobody starts cold.
- Structural pest control (Branch 2) — not us. If your situation needs it, we say so and point you to a licensed structural pest control operator rather than stretching our own license over it.
General liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation and commercial auto, all current, with limits well above what the State requires of a licensed trapper. Certificates on request, before you let anyone on your roof.
Talk to the owner
Tri County Trappers is owner-operated. You work directly with the owner and our licensed specialists — raccoon removal in Anaheim is never handed off to an unlicensed subcontractor. Every technician on our crew carries their own CDFW trapping license, the owner reviews every inspection and every completed job, and runs jobs himself. Someone answers every call, seven days a week — call anytime. Free inspection, no obligation, and a clear number before anything starts.
Call (949) 304-5445 Email [email protected]
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Trapping License TP-10188, valid through 6/30/2027, and every technician on our crew carries their own. General liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation and commercial auto coverage — certificates on request. Member, National Wildlife Control Operators Association. 4.9 average rating on Google. We check every trap we set at least once every 24 hours. Where 14 CCR § 465.5(g)(2) applies it requires traps to be visited at least once daily — we hold to a rolling 24-hour interval, which is stricter than the rule. Payment plans available on larger jobs.
Book a free inspection
Pick an arrival window and it goes straight onto our schedule. You get a written report of what we found either way — and if you don’t have a problem worth paying to fix, we’ll tell you that.
No payment is taken to book an inspection. California Department of Fish and Wildlife Trapping License TP-10188.